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What is Tspirit in gen II german prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by pcwulf, Oct 15, 2010.

  1. pcwulf

    pcwulf Junior Member

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    I am new here. I came across a Prius (claimed to be made in Feb 2008) that has the label Tspirit under the letters 'Toyota' in the back. The car is currently in Netherlands and has been imported from Germany. I wonder what Tspirit in a German Prius means? I could not find any information here or on the web.

    One more point. When I checked the registration number online (the Dutch tourism website ANWB has a facility to check registration plates), it is indicated that the car should be the model 2004-2006 not 2007-2009. I did not know that there are two variants of Prius II. So a bit confused.

    Help appreciated.
     
  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    T-Spirit is a model designation used in the UK so it might have originated from the UK. Is it a RHD car?

    The 2nd generation Prius ran from late 2003 to early 2009 (2004-2009 as it is labelled in the US). It was updated for 2006 with slightly different headlights, a chrome grille bar, chromed brakelight housing (instead of black) and an updated interior (dashboard, door cappings) among other things.

    You can find out more here

    http://priuschat.com/forums/knowled...andard-optional-equipment-some-countries.html

    Scroll down to the UK section.
     
  3. pcwulf

    pcwulf Junior Member

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    Thanks for the reply. No, it is not a RHD -- a normal LHD vehicle. The service record clearly shows that the first services were done in Germany.
     
  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Ohh?? So another country uses the T-Spirit nomenclature?? Or did someone just stick it on? I thought the other countries use premium, executive, dynamic, linea, sol etc etc as their trim levels.
     
  5. pcwulf

    pcwulf Junior Member

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    Let me share with you all the rest of this story. I agreed to buy the car, we did the initial paperwork and I wanted to have the car inspected by a Toyota Dealer in the Netherlands. The owner also agreed. On the day of purchase both of us went to the dealer and let them inspect the car. What I (rather we?) learned was quite interesting.

    They took me into the garage and showed me what they found. The paintwork on one side felt rather rough. They removed some of the interior panels and showed me how the body has been worked on. Knocked on the bodywork and showed the places where lot of filler has been done: The conclusion the car had a rather serious accident and has been improperly 'restored'. Now this explains the 'T-spirit' badge also. Some industrious person got the back panel from the UK to replace a horribly damaged back?

    Anyway, Toyota charged me EUR 50 for the inspection. Best EUR 50 I spent! The deal was out and the seller is still trying to sell it. I have good reason to believe that the seller did not know this until that time that he was driving a car with an accident.

    Lesson learned: When buying cars -- if something looks suspicious, it is probably so!
     
    2 people like this.
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Good job detective!